When I was a TEACHER, I'd walk into the classroom. I stood at the BOARD. I was the man. I directed operations. I was an INTELLECTUAL and artistic and moral traffic COP, and I - and I would direct the class, most of the TIME.
My ACTING career began on the streets of New York. When I was a cop, I played MANY impressive roles, from derelict to a DOCTOR, and my life OFTEN depended on my PERFORMANCE.
Star Trek wouldn't DIE. There were a whole lot of young people who were touched by the THOUGHT process of science FICTION. If you watched a cop show, there wasn't ANYTHING that was going to stimulate your mind.
It's like TRYING to be a traffic cop and write a POEM at the same time. You need an executive head to HANDLE all the vast paraphernalia of moviemaking. You need another, more SENSITIVE head to get the delicate human emotional values you are trying to put on FILM.
I really think a GOOD host is just a connector. I'm more traffic cop than star. My JOB is to get people on and off the program, and hopefully KEEP the AUDIENCE entertained.
I remember being at the premiere of 'Beverly Hills Cop II' and the tremendous REACTION from the crowd outside, then going to a party at a HOTEL afterwards where the speakers were blasting 'Shakedown,' a song from the movie. That FELT like a SHOW biz MOMENT to me.
You have to always try to think about them LIKE real people FIRST, and not just heroes. They have to be real CHARACTERS. As people do more and more SUPERHERO stuff, the characters are what distinguish it, just like in cop SHOWS.